Posted on 02/05/2022 2:44:42 PM PST by SamAdams76
Jack London's "To Build A Fire"
Starring Ian Hogg (and a very smart dog)
Narrated by Orson Welles
Written, Produced and Directed by David Cobham
"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London, published in 1908.
"To Build a Fire" is about an unnamed male protagonist who ventures out in the subzero boreal forest of the Yukon Territory. He is followed by a native dog and is en route to visit his friends—ignoring warnings from an older man from Sulphur Creek about the dangers of hiking alone in extreme cold. The protagonist underestimates the harsh conditions and slowly freezes to death.
"To Build a Fire" is an oft-cited example of the naturalist movement that portrays the conflict of man vs. nature. It also reflects London's personal experiences in the Yukon Territory.
Copyright: David Cobham Productions
First Broadcast: BBC 1969
A man and his loyal, trusting dog, Pepper, set out alone on the Yukon trail in 75 degree below zero weather. Or as London describes it, 107 degrees of frost.
This is a BBC made for TV film from 1969 that is narrated by Orson Welles. I thought it was very well done and the dog Pepper steals the show in my opinion.
Pepper deserved a better master.
Feed me now. Or feed me later. 8<)
Thank you!
Is this the one where the guy drinks the wolf’s blood to survive?
This was shown to us in High School English. Thanks for posting. I’d forgotten Welles was the narrator.
I never saw the movie. But is this the story where the dog, ah, at the very end, goes on alone?
In this story, the wolf thinks thats a bad idea.
Mark Steyn did a great audiobook reading of the original story. Only available to Club Members.
Yep. After the owner freezes and starts to smell bad, the dog heads back to town.
Thanks-love this, will watch it tonight!
Bookmark.
This has been one of my favorite Jack London stories. Read a lot of his stuff when I was a kid.
This story really stuck with me. I don’t do ‘wilderness’ but to this day I make sure to ALWAYS have matches with me. ALWAYS.
Yes, I remember reading it and it really hit me back when I was a kiddo. I think the dog sensed death, moved on and we realized the gravity of the situation.
I did a quick look around the internets, and I see there is another version with a happy ending. I don’t know which one is best; I would have forgotten the happier one a lot, lot sooner.
“It was cold.” We read this every year about this time. Students always ask to turn the heat up!
If it gets cold enough, matches won't help. At one point I got a box of mil-surplus trioxane packs, which I've tested in my fireplace as a fire starter.
“It was cold.”
Ok now you have done it have to reread the ultimate cold story “ A Pail Of Air”.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51461/51461-h/51461-h.htm
Another Jack London short story I highly recommend is “The Law of Life.” Easily found on the web.
By the way, his Wikipedia biography is amazing. It was a lot more difficult to travel back then. He went everywhere, lived hard, and died young.
No, this is the one where the guy has to build a fire.
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